Fantasy Football: Which Cowboys' back to grab with Elliott suspended

As the Cowboys brace for the impact of a six-game suspension to one of their most talented offensive players in Ezekiel Elliott, the coaching staff will have to decide how they will utilize their back-up runners to pick up the slack. Their decision making will go a long way to helping or hurting those of you who were faithful to Elliott during fantasy draft season and selected him despite the upcoming suspension. Elliott currently ranks as the sixth-best scoring back in ESPN PPR leagues.

Elliott is averaging 17.5 points per game, and although his replacement likely won’t match that regularly, there is plenty of opportunity. Will it be spread around or will there be a leader?

The Cowboys prepared for this eventuality, if it sticks, so acquiring an outside runner isn’t happening. Let’s look at all three options for the Cowboys offense moving forward and what kind of fantasy value they now have. If you have Elliott, or a space on your bench, you might want to consider snapping up one of these players.

Alfred Morris

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Morris looks like the prohibitive favorite here. He’s been active over Darren McFadden in all five games and has handled the ball more than Rod Smith. Morris has also shown a rejuvenated burst and explosiveness, beginning in preseason, that was fully on display against the Rams on this 70-yard jaunt:

One of the major factors in Morris’ favor is his productivity in zone-running schemes. Although the offensive line has shown in the past that they are versatile enough to run power schemes more suited to Darren McFadden as well, they’ve just turned the corner with their running game and may not want to deviate.

It looks like the smart money would be to pick up Morris if he’s available. The Cowboys have shown a preference for a work-horse in their offense with a scat-back sprinkled in for passing downs and they likely view Morris as the most consistent running weapon of the group. Jason Garrett has shown during his tenure that players who prove their worth at the NFL level, even on other teams, have a leg up in most competitions.

Rod Smith

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Despite all of the factors in Morris’ favor outlined above, the sample size of snaps is so small that it may actually reveal little when assessing how the team will move forward.

Rod Smith played a ton in preseason and he looked like a skilled and powerful back when running or receiving the football. He did a nice job of staying alive Sunday against Green Bay and Dak Prescott found him for a third-down conversion deep in Packers territory.

Smith makes a lot of sense as a lead-back for Dallas. His tough-running style is the closest replication of what Elliott brings to this team in short yardage and he also offers the most-complete package among the group when aggregating running, receiving and pass protection duties into one player. For fantasy, this is merely projection at this point. However, if you aren’t sold on Morris, the Smith speculation may not cost nearly as much as Morris.

Smith is a definite boom-or-bust option, but should figure into the offense regardless of who starts as the Cowboys enter the softest portion of their schedule and figure to try to dominate with their running attack.

Darren McFadden

Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The photo above is from the last time we’ve seen McFadden on the field. He’s been inactive for all five games this season. However the team has obviously held onto him for just this purpose – losing Elliott for an extended period.

McFadden already boasts a top-ten RB finish in fantasy as a Cowboy and it was very surprising before week one that McFadden ended up inactive after most believed he would be the fill-in for Elliott if he were suspended.

McFadden has proven to be productive and reliable for this Cowboys team over the previous two seasons and, as mentioned before, this is a big plus with this coaching staff. If news leaks over the next week that McFadden is running with the first team offense in practice that will be your queue to jump on the waiver wire and pick up No. 20.

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